Immersive virtual environments (VE), including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), have actually became a reality as important companies such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft are developing new augmented reality and virtual reality products and applications. Many solutions are based on head-mounted display (HMD) devices containing a display, processing unit, mobile connectivity, sensors and user interfaces.
Some of these features can be integrated in regular smartphones or tablet devices (smartphone with a larger screen). For example, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard solutions allow mobile phones to be attached to a head-mounted device.
Thought, virtual reality and augmented reality head-mounted display devices have some important limitations for the user to interact with the head-mounted device and control the immersive virtual environment applications. That is especially critical for head-mounted display devices which require a smartphone with touchscreen display which cannot be easily touched by the user while wearing it.
There are some input methods available for head-mounted display devices, such as gestures captures by a camera, infra-red beams and sensors, built-in touchpads, external mouse or pointer but in some cases, such as in virtual locomotion and navigation, they are not very natural or intuitive. In addition, most of these methods involve the use of hands or arms, which may be busy while user is working, practicing sports, operating equipment and tools or interacting with other person as in some augmented reality applications.
The paper “Redirecting Walking and Driving for Natural Navigation in Immersive Virtual Environments”, from April, 2012, by Gerd Bruder et al., also describes techniques for using walking in confined spaces for navigating in immersive virtual environments. This paper differs from the present invention since its technique is based on “redirected walking”, what means guiding users along paths in the real world that differ from the perceived path in the virtual world. For example, guiding the user wearing a head-mounted display along circular paths in a considerably smaller or curved tracked interaction space, while in virtual environment user feels like tracking a longer or straight path. The present invention uses a different approach than Gerd Bruder et al.'s work, wherein user can march in the same place while his steps are counted and the associated distance is reflected in the immersive environment, with the advantage of keeping the user in the, more natural, straight route, still requiring a minimum space available in stationary mode (user marches in the same place). Further, the present invention also includes rotation movements wherein the user turns his body or head around his body axis, detected by movement and direction sensors including a digital pedometer (step detector and step counter) implementation. The present invention also differs from the Gerd Bruder et al.'s paper since it is not limited to virtual navigation or transportation, but it presents input methods which may be applied to any graphical objects in the virtual environment, including pointers, cursors, input controls (buttons, checkboxes, spinners, pickers) and the user own representation.
The patent document WO 2014/073758, titled: “Forward-Moving Platform and Virtual Reality Walking System Using Same”, filed on Apr. 19, 2013, by JOO JAE HOON, describes a forward-moving platform, such as a treadmill, which can move in virtual reality by actually moving forward, backward, to the left or to the right, and allows the user to always stay within a predetermined area even when moving in all directions for user safety. The present invention differs from document WO 2014/073758, since it uses user stationary walking movements such as translation and rotation as input methods for virtual environment, wherein both translation and rotation are calculated based on the equivalent walked distance based on the counted number of steps and the user turn angle detected by movement and direction sensors including a digital pedometer (step detector and step counter) implementation. In addition, the present invention is not limited to virtual navigation or transportation, but it presents input methods which may be applied to any graphical objects in the virtual environment, such as pointers, cursors, input controls (buttons, checkboxes, spinners, pickers) and the user own representation.
The patent document US 2014/192087 A1, titled “System and Method for Providing a Virtual Immersive Environment”, filed on Jan. 9, 2014, by NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORP, describes a virtual environment based on 360-degrees projection, differently than a head-mounted display, and it includes directional, audio, smoke, smell, clothes and floor vibration sensors. The user movements are limited to concentric circles and the projected immersive video responds to the user movements along the circles. The present invention is not limited to concentric circles to determine the displacement and it does not require 360-degrees projectors, but it is based on a head-mounted display device and uses user stationary walking movements such as translation and rotation as input methods for virtual environment, wherein both translation and rotation are calculated based on the equivalent walked distance based on the counted number of steps and the user turn angle detected by movement and direction sensors including a pedometer (step detector and step counter) implementation.
The patent document WO 2010/089618 A2 titled: “Walking Platform Especially for Virtual Reality (VR) Systems”, filed on Feb. 5, 2010, by SZIGETLAKI ZSOLT, presents a walking platform preferably for virtual reality systems, comprising a locomotion surface providing support for the user's feet, whereas said locomotion surface is associated with rotatable members for promoting the motion of the user's feet. It is basically a stationary omni-directional treadmill or moving surface where the user walks in the same physical space while he interacts with virtual reality. The present invention also allows user to interact with virtual reality, but it differs from document WO 2010/089618 A2 since it does not require a walking platform or a treadmill for stationary walking; rather than that the present invention takes advantage of a head-mounted display device and stationary user walking movements: the present invention proposes user actually walks or march in the same place, while the distance equivalent to the counted number of steps is used as the translation input, and the user's body or head turn is used as the rotation input, for the purpose of interacting with graphics objects in the Virtual Environment. In addition, the present invention application is not limited to virtual navigation or transportation, but it presents input methods which may be applied to any graphical objects in the virtual environment, including pointers, cursors, input controls and user own representations.
The patent document US 2014/179490 A1 titled: “Method of Controlling a Device Allowing a User to Walk or Run on the Spot In an Arbitrary Direction and Device Therefore”, filed on May 9, 2012, by MSE OMNIFINITY AB, presents a stationary central platform (9) surrounded by a convex polygon shaped deck (6) in level therewith, said deck (6) being divided into trapezoid shaped roller conveyors. It is basically another stationary Omni-directional treadmill based on rolling conveyors where the user walks in the same physical space while he interacts with virtual reality. The present invention also allows user to interact with virtual reality, but it differs from document US 2014/179490 since it does not require a treadmill; rather than that the present invention takes advantage of a head-mounted display device and stationary user walking movements: user can walk in the same place while his translation and rotation are inputs interpreted in the virtual environment according to its specific scope and context. In addition, the present invention is not limited to virtual navigation or transportation, but it presents input methods which can be applied to any graphical object in the virtual environment or user representations.
The patent document KR20140089647 titled: “Virtual Reality Walking Platform System and Method Using an OMNI-Directional Floor”, filed on Jan. 3, 2013, by DODAAM SYSTEMS LTD, presents a virtual reality walking method using an Omni-directional floor, through which a position, a distance, a working speed, and an acceleration of a user can be acquired if the user walks on an Omni-directional floor while watching a virtual reality world through an image unit. The present invention also allows user to interact with virtual reality, but it differs from document KR 20140089647 since it does not require a treadmill or moving floor; rather than that the present invention takes advantage of a head-mounted display device and user with stationary walking movements may just walk in the same place while his translation and rotation are inputs interpreted in the virtual environment according to its specific scope and context. In addition, the present invention is not limited to virtual navigation or transportation, but it presents input methods which may be applied to any graphical objects in the virtual environment, such as pointers, cursors, input controls or user representations.
The method of the present invention resembles and simulates the most natural method of navigation for humans, the walking, for controlling graphical objects in virtual environment application: depending on the correspondent translation distance walked by the user and/or the rotation angle turned by the user, a immersive virtual environment application running head-mounted display device's will interpret these inputs according to its own scope and context, and it will respond by updating the virtual content presented by the head-mounted display to the user, by:                moving cursor, pointer or graphic objects in the virtual reality application,        moving an object inside the virtual reality application, including an object which represents the user,        user self-motion: moving the user view (the user's point of view), or the user's perspective inside the virtual reality/augmented reality application,        defining the navigation path of the user in the immersive media,        interacting with a graphical interface object, changing its value or status, not limited to these.        
Other alternative algorithms and methods for movement detection could be designed, but the preferred embodiment of the present invention takes advantage specifically of the “walking” paradigm, since it is a natural form of transportation and navigation, by resembling it and simulating it, while providing analogous inputs to control a virtual environment.